An Interview With One Of My Favorite Ladies

It is my great pleasure to introduce you to Teresa V., wife and mother-of-six extraordinaire!  As a wife for 26 years, mother for 25 years, and homeschool teacher for 20 years (and counting!), she is a lady whose brain you want to pick! In her spare time (you know she has oodles of it, ha!), she enjoys reading, guitar playing, song writing, and gardening. She is my mom.

My mom (grating cheese for breakfast!)

During our vacation at the beach, she took the time to answer a few questions of mine regarding life as a wife and mother.

Me: As a mother of small children, what was your biggest challenge?

"My biggest challenge as a mother of small children was trying to be balanced! Learning to juggle everything and to do it well with a Godly attitude was a huge effort! Moms like me are challenged to balance normal adult responsibilities (like paying the bills), the constant needs of running a household, the need to consistently discipline children, time to personally “refuel,” time with their husband, time to relax with their children (like cuddling and enjoying a read-aloud book together), and (in my case) time to adequately homeschool each child and nurse a baby intermittently!"

"Many times my husband would help me see when I was getting out of balance and would pull me away from all the responsibilities to just go for a walk with him. It was amazing how much could be accomplished through a simple walk, talk, and time of prayer. To maintain sanity, prayer was and IS essential."

Me: If you could give advice to the “younger you”--the younger mother--what would it be?

My Mom: "Now that 4 of our 6 offspring are adults, I clearly see how vital it is to pour into children all the “good” I possibly can during those precious 18 years, particularly the 1st impressionable 5 years. My husband and I chose for me to be a stay-at-home mom and to homeschool our children in order to do our best to train them in godliness."

"If I could give advice to the 'younger me' back in the beginning of this journey, the me who was (and often still is) too perfectionistic, I would tell myself to RELAX! I would encourage myself not to be uptight. Some things matter, but not to the degree that I lose peace of mind and peace with God. I’m referring to things such as getting all the laundry done, dishes done, kids clean, house clean, consistent balanced meals prepared, and so on. I would encourage more fun outings (not just “educational” ones) and less stressing over whether my children are learning enough or as much as other children. Time has proven that I don’t need to be an accomplished artist, scientist, musician, etc. for my children to blossom in the area of their interest."

"We simply need to pray over our children A LOT, asking God to expose their strengths and gifts, and that these would be enhanced with opportunities for growth. We have found that God is faithful to answer this prayer."

To be continued next week...

How would you weigh in on these questions? Many of you are mothers to young children--what do you feel is your biggest challenge?



Linked to: 
Wise Words Wednesday @ Trugars
Works For Me Wednesday @ We Are THAT Family

An Interview With One Of My Favorite Ladies